How to Buy & Install a Dash Cam for $150

satchurator

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Has anybody had success with two Garmin mini 2’s combined as a pair? One front facing, one rear facing? The only information I can find has the mini 2 on rear and the 47 forward facing.
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WuffvonTrips

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Has anybody had success with two Garmin mini 2’s combined as a pair? One front facing, one rear facing? The only information I can find has the mini 2 on rear and the 47 forward facing.
I'm curious too. I've got a 45 up front which I don't think can be paired but TBH I've not yet tried but my Android phone keeps telling me that the Drive app is hogging the network.
 

WattTurbo

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This is my first car that I felt needs a rear cam (I got a Garmin Mini 2)- despite my being considerate of other road users and driving within safe margins, I'm occasionally getting disapproval from overtaken vehicles (maybe they wrongly think I'm going to brake in front of them for the upcoming bend). As I'm in a distinctive vehicle with a fairly memorable reg I think it best to record as much evidence as possible.
I too typically don’t tailgate, and when I change lanes I make sure to give a good margin. Sometimes though some slow drivers feel they need to block the passing lane to prove a point, in which case you know…
Another case where the rear camera was needed. A car on the left lane was stopped waiting for the opposite traffic to clear so he could turn into a business. He must had his wheels turned already because when he got rear ended, it sent him across two lanes of the opposite traffic. Luckily they all stopped in time and avoided a second collision. Also luckily the truck that caused the collision stuck around because by this time the front camera is recording the business he was going to and not the rear license plate of the would be hit and run driver.
 

WattTurbo

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Not true for all accidents. My wife was pit-maneuvered on a highway totaling the car, but without a rear camera it would have been hard to prove who veered into whose lane, so it would get filed as no fault (a.k.a. shared fault). While possible, it would require cops to do a lot more vector math to prove from front view whether the car crossed into the other lane - a lot more work than they are willing to do in most cases actually. A rear dashcam however made this case a slam dunk. Here is the dashcam footage of the crash in question:
Same thing happened to my wife before dash cams were popular. Ended in a no fault and each insurance paid for the respective owners fault. It stayed on wife’s driving record for years.
 

whitex

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Same thing happened to my wife before dash cams were popular. Ended in a no fault and each insurance paid for the respective owners fault. It stayed on wife’s driving record for years.
I think the front+rear dashcam saved enough money in just this one accident (saved $1,000 deductible, plus higher insurance rates for years) to pay for all dashcams I installed in our family cars. I treat the dashcam like airbags, hope to never use it, but glad it's there when needed. This is the dashcam is the very first thing that goes into the car once we get it (I install them myself). I've been using the 2CH Blackvue (of different generations over time), even in a Tesla which has a built in dashcam functionality - that's because I don't trust Tesla with a dashcam, as different software updates in the past messed it up (gaps in recordings, garbled recordings, etc) and I don't want to spend time thoroughly testing it after every OTA update. Dashcam from Tesla is cool, but it's a bonus function for Tesla (started as a way to use all the cameras since FSD was delayed for many years), while it is Blackview's primary function.
 


WattTurbo

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I think the front+rear dashcam saved enough money in just this one accident (saved $1,000 deductible, plus higher insurance rates for years) to pay for all dashcams I installed in our family cars. I treat the dashcam like airbags, hope to never use it, but glad it's there when needed. This is the dashcam is the very first thing that goes into the car once we get it (I install them myself). I've been using the 2CH Blackvue (of different generations over time), even in a Tesla which has a built in dashcam functionality - that's because I don't trust Tesla with a dashcam, as different software updates in the past messed it up (gaps in recordings, garbled recordings, etc) and I don't want to spend time thoroughly testing it after every OTA update. Dashcam from Tesla is cool, but it's a bonus function for Tesla (started as a way to use all the cameras since FSD was delayed for many years), while it is Blackview's primary function.
Agreed they’re must haves items just as a radar and phone while driving. I watch “wham bam Tesla cam” and feel pretty jealous of their cameras so I was surprised to see that you don’t trust them. I’ll take your words on it since I don’t own one.
 

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Agreed they’re must haves items just as a radar and phone while driving. I watch “wham bam Tesla cam” and feel pretty jealous of their cameras so I was surprised to see that you don’t trust them. I’ll take your words on it since I don’t own one.
Teslas are permanent Beta cars, i.e. Tesla keeps on experimenting on customers. This means every OTA may come with bugs which can screw up certain functionalities. Dashcam being low of Tesla priority list, testing of it is probably very minimal. You can read through Tesla forums every once in a while an update comes which messes up the dashcam functionality. Since I consider dashcam is fairly important function, I don't want to rely on the Tesla software for it. The constant experimenting, including both hardware and software, is one of the main reasons why I'm looking to go back to Porsche (that and Porsche finally has an EV). I've had 4 brand new model S, and got a bit sick of the constant experimenting. For example one of my Model S came with experimental mirror assemblies which had a lifetime of about 2 weeks. Changed them out 3 or 4 times before Tesla finally came out with an updated version which didn't die in 2 weeks (causing the mirrors to flop in the wind while driving). I recently came across this:
https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/t...ith-prototype-part-that-must-now-be-recalled/
Apparently they even experiment with core safety equipment now. By experimenting I mean they don't bother testing much or at all, just put it in production, see what breaks. They do it with software all the time, sometimes causing real damage. I had one update on my wife's car change the car's behavior, specifically the car would automatically unfold mirrors when it starts moving. My wife didn't read all the fine print when she got in her car on the morning after an update, drove to a place where she drove to many many times in the prior year, parked in a tight space. On the way out, she did what she always did, got into the car, hit the button to fold mirrors knowing they needed to stay folded to pull out, she started backing out, CRACK! the mirror auto unfolded and broke. $600 to fix, not covered by Tesla, though they did fix the software the following week with an OTA which changed the behavior to auto unfold only above some speed. Too late for us, the guinea pigs for a new feature some developer at Tesla thought was a great idea (to be honest I think it was a brute force fix to other bugs which caused some state machine to get messed up and one or both mirrors not unfolding at all after getting into the car and starting to drive).

I always thought Tesla should have been called BetaBet (since Alphabet has been taken by Google). My oldest Tesla is now over 7 years old, with some features still officially labeled as Beta. I'd be willing to bet money they will never come out of Beta.
 
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WattTurbo

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Teslas are permanent Beta cars, i.e. Tesla keeps on experimenting on customers. This means every OTA may come with bugs which can screw up certain functionalities. Dashcam being low of Tesla priority list, testing of it is probably very minimal. You can read through Tesla forums every once in a while an update comes which messes up the dashcam functionality. Since I consider dashcam is fairly important function, I don't want to rely on the Tesla software for it. The constant experimenting, including both hardware and software, is one of the main reasons why I'm looking to back to Porsche (that and Porsche finally has an EV). I've had 4 brand new model S, and got a bit sick of the constant experimenting. For example one of my Model S came with experimental mirror assemblies which had a lifetime of about 2 weeks. Changed them out 3 or 4 times before Tesla finally came out with an updated version which didn't die in 2 weeks (causing the mirrors to flop in the wind while driving). I recently came across this:
https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/t...ith-prototype-part-that-must-now-be-recalled/
Apparently they even experiment with core safety equipment now. By experimenting I mean they don't bother testing much or at all, just put it in production, see what breaks. They do it with software all the time, sometimes causing real damage. I had one update on my wife's car change the car's behavior, specifically the car would automatically unfold mirrors when it starts moving. My wife didn't read all the fine print when she got in her car on the morning after an update, drove to a place where she drove to many many times in the prior year, parked in a tight space. On the way out, she did what she always did, got into the car, hit the button to fold mirrors knowing they needed to stay folded to pull out, she started backing out, CRACK! the mirror auto unfolded and broke. $600 to fix, not covered by Tesla, though they did fix the software the following week with an OTA which changed the behavior to auto unfold only above some speed. Too late for us, the guinea pigs for a new feature some developer at Tesla thought was a great idea (to be honest I think it was a brute force fix to other bugs which caused some state machine to get messed up and one or both mirrors not unfolding at all after getting into the car and starting to drive).

I always thought Tesla should have been called BetaBet (since Alphabet has been taken by Google). My oldest Tesla is now over 7 years old, with some features still officially labeled as Beta. I'd be willing to bet money they will never come out of Beta.
That was interesting about the software bugs. I'd be pissed if that mirror broke on me when it was caused by one of those bugs. I just gotten off the phone with my dad to warn him to not manually unfold the mirrors, and he confirmed that he never does and solely rely on the screen when backing out. The Tesla screen is much bigger and clearer than the one we have on the Taycan so I can see myself not needing the mirrors as well.
 


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That’s correct for sufficiently (software) updated Taycans, but hard to argue when Service Techs are scapegoating the presence of camera as cause of 12V drain/failure.
Yes, months back there was ”the 12 volt battery issue”, which turns the car into a 2 ton brick. So, what software update corrects the problem and has the HV battery recharging the 12 volt? Does someone know? I have had similar 12 V drain questions regarding a portable air compressor I have to maintain tire pressure. I am reluctant to use it. Steve
 

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I also installed blackvue dash cam myself and had a spare one so actually installed front with left side and full rear with right side. I keep them attached via external battery, when left on can record for 14hrs. I also linked it with my external hotspot so that I can see the car 360 on the iPhone blackvue app. I had previously installed Garmin min2 but it was too temperamental and didn't provide remote view access through WiFI hotspot.
Does your car have the wifi hotspot (the service from Porsche for $20 a month?)? I was going to buy the LTE module for my Blackvue as I cannot see the cameras when the car is not near my home or office wifi, but I would have to pay for a sim card and it would be easier to have the hotspot.
 

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I run the Viofo A139 2-channel hardwired into my driver side fuse panel with their Type-C HK3-C hardware kit that allows the cam to switch over to Parking mode automatically when I power the car off and cut all power to the cameras if the 12V is dropping to dangerous levels.

Have it mounted where I can't even see either of the cameras that's in the front and the back when I'm driving.

Installed it myself in just 2 hours since I had to figure out how to take apart the panels so I can route the cable and then I got really anal on hiding the cables so that you can't see it anywhere.

No problems here for the past 15 months.
 

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Does your car have the wifi hotspot (the service from Porsche for $20 a month?)? I was going to buy the LTE module for my Blackvue as I cannot see the cameras when the car is not near my home or office wifi, but I would have to pay for a sim card and it would be easier to have the hotspot.
I've actually got an AT&T external hotspot device for which I pay $10 a month connection and is part of my unlimited data bundle. My blackvues are not LTE but that would certainly work if you buy the LTE version. I find it easier to have it linked to an external hotspot and may actually draw less power that way too.
 

PDACPA

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I've actually got an AT&T external hotspot device for which I pay $10 a month connection and is part of my unlimited data bundle. My blackvues are not LTE but that would certainly work if you buy the LTE version. I find it easier to have it linked to an external hotspot and may actually draw less power that way too.
I think the Blackvue CM 100 LTE module (the 750 have LTE , but 900 uses the extra module) require a sim card which I think it about $10 a month for data only. Your AT&T would be a better option as I do not have to buy the CM100. Thanks. Will look into it.
 

TYO

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I did check out the blackvue. Reviews mixed, installer wanted $1000 for dash and install for a camera that sells on amazon form$400. Also power always on risk draining 12v battery My dealer takes the position any dash hard wired could void car warranty ( unless original porsche product)
All dash cams usually fail after 2-3 yrs due to heat. The garmin is small, good picture quality and works great. Easy solution if someone again hits my car. Btw rear dash not needed to prove rear end collusion liability.
You can also buy your cam from best buy and they will install it if you sign up for tech support.
 

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Has anybody had success with two Garmin mini 2’s combined as a pair? One front facing, one rear facing? The only information I can find has the mini 2 on rear and the 47 forward facing. [INITIAL][/INITIAL]
Someone asked this question on Amazon and the response was the app could handle 4 cameras with synchronized videos. Don't know if it actually works or not though...

Porsche Taycan How to Buy & Install a Dash Cam for $150 1659717213374
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